The fundamentally meditative quality of Phillip Glass's music makes it ideal for telling the tale of the 13th Dalai Llama as chronicled in Martin Scorcese's KUNDUN. The instrumentation is a mixture of Tibetan horn and cymbals and traditional Western classical instruments. Among the musicians that bring Glass's work to life are New York classical greats Carol Wincenc on flute and Gordon Gottlieb on percussion. Actual recordings of Gyoto monks are also included in the recording. Undulating cross rhythms, chanting and horn figures give rise to conventional melodies in the bass instruments.

Tchaikovsky's use of celeste to evoke a sense of mystery and wonder is recalled in "Dark Kitchen." The French horn, played in the low register (with a tone reminiscent of the Tibetan horn) takes flight in "Chinese Invade." In "Norbu Dances" the tonal color of the tambourine is used, with playful rhythms charmingly suggestive of child's play. Glass's shifting frames of rhythmic reference sound like the shifting patterns of light and energy forming the Buddhists' theological world.